Yesterday’s post about my move to Baltimore and continued downsizing prompted some great comments and emails about how, exactly, to get started in creating a life with less stuff (and maybe more experiences instead).
We do this exercise as part of the 31 Days to Reset Your Life Challenge, but if you don’t plan on joining us for that program, the parameters below can be helpful to do when you have a free weekend or day off.
How to Decide What to Get Rid Of
If you’re feeling like you have too much stuff or there’s too much clutter in your living space, it’s a good sign that you need to start getting rid of some things. Your stuff might be holding you back from going after what you really want. My sister just moved to a big expensive apartment because she “needed” enough room to hold all of her furniture. So having a lot of stuff can also cost you money as it often comes at a price to store it either in your apartment, house or a storage facility.
Go through your living space and look around at all the things you own. Ask yourself if you really need or really love everything you’ve got sitting in your house, room or apartment. Go through closets, bedrooms, shelves, storage rooms, even your home office. For each item, ask yourself the following questions:
- Do I really need this?
- Do I really love/want this?
Be honest with your answers. If the answer for any item is yes, keep it and keep loving it. If the answer for any item is no, kick it to the curb by throwing it away, giving it away or recycling it. The idea is to get rid of ALL the stuff you don’t need or love. If you don’t need it or love it, it’s gotta go. Every single bit of it. If you have a roommate, live-in partner, spouse or kids, you can also ask them to do the same.
Things You Might Want to Get Rid Of
- Clothes (most of us have only a few outfits that we wear over and over any way)
- Shoes (many of us have shoes we only wear once a year with one specific outfit – why let them keep taking up space?)
- Old newspapers and magazines (if you haven’t read it by now…)
- Knick-knacks (and the curio cabinet they’re sitting in)
- Dishes (do you really need 16 coffee cups?)
- Old photos and gifts you never look at or use (sentimentality can be expensive)
- Rarely used or broken appliances/electronics (get them fixed or get rid of them)
- Anything you haven’t used or worn in six months (you probably never will)
- Things you’ve never used or worn (let it go already)
- Clothes with the price tags still on them from a month ago (return them or give them away)
Rosetta Thurman is a nationally-recognized author, speaker, mentor and coach dedicated to helping women create their ideal lives.
This is a great article on one of my favorite subjects: purging. I would only add that you should sell as much of what you purge, if possible. Try Ebay and Craigslist, for starters, keeping in mind that Ebay may charge you for selling there, depending on the type of account you secure, and Craigslist can be a little scary, so remember to be safe. Whatever won’t sell, donate to charity if it’s still usable, and don’t forget the tax receipt before you leave. If it’s not so usable, consider your local Freecycle (.org), and give it away.
Last year around this time I took part in Six Items Or Less. No one noticed that I was wearing the same basic outfit almost every day for 31 days. That motivated me to get rid of a lot of clothes.
Most people tend to have a “uniform” of outfits they wear to work, to go out, and to run errands. Get rid of the other stuff that you do not wear.
I am also getting rid of books that I do not use, work stuff that I do not need, old DVDs, old CDs that are now digital, and kitchen stuff. I don’t need that many dishes. It is a relief to be done with a lot of the items.
http://1219sibmtt.blogspot.com/2012/01/basically-effective.html
Ah, what a great lesson about the outfit thing. It’s funny as I used to fancy myself a “fashionista” when really, I only wore the same few “knockout” ensembles when I went out to dates, happy hours, events, etc. Those I kept. The rest are history.
Another great thing is to consider consigning some of these things. Consignment stores will happily take these things (great way to generate some extra cash). If the clothes are 2 years and younger, clothing consignment stores will take clothes with price tags on it. See if you can sell some of the things you want to get rid of, and then whatever can’t be sold, then you can donate to local charities (which is tax-deductible).
I don’t have much or so I think. Because I am sure in comparison to others I appear rich. I don’t like a lot of clutter. I do tend to hang on to paperwork that is no longer needed. I recently shredded a lot of old forms, articles, notes and all kind of stuff. I have another box that I need to attack. That will be on my agenda very soon.
I have the same problem, too many papers and a lot of them are academic related. However, I do purge after each school year and get rid of things that aren’t going to help me remember things. I’ve also stopped collecting junk at conferences and I try to plan meals and clothing when I really want to manage my stuff
That’s it. Fine. It is time to clear my closet. I fall victim to the ‘I have nothing to wear’ syndrome, and have too much. Saying that out loud, reminded me that I am Blessed :-) Thank you my dear Sister for motivating me to address a long overdue issue. Sounds cliche, but I am holding on to the shoes….lol Baby steps.
LOL at holding on to the shoes. Hey, baby steps are still steps!